


Undertale 2: Forgiven

by MorseCode312



Category: Undertale
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 08:13:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10272170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorseCode312/pseuds/MorseCode312
Summary: Happy endings don't always come easy. Monsters in the Underground know that better than most. Especially when it comes to humans: their history, their fate, and how they Act. But if there's anything that monsters have to learn, it's that the actions of one human do not define the Mercy of another...Takes place after Undertale's in-game Genocide Route





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Every human depicted or described in this story is not a fictional character. The humans in this story are all 100% real.

His stroll to the top of the mountain was a quiet one...

He let out a long sigh. His steps were heavy up the beaten path leading to the summit. Hands in his coat and eyes looking down at his shoes, it was obvious to any observer that he had something on his mind. His frown was deep. He looked unhappy. About what though, he wouldn't say...

He reached the top of the mountain. He hopped in a half-circle, walking backwards, looking out at the forest below. It was a beautiful scene. The sun was low in the sky; orange and purple-ish streaks of light filled the top half of this beautiful landscape. He took it in with a sigh, his deep brown eyes sparkling, reflecting the scenery back onto itself.

His foot caught on a jagged rock, and he fell...

~~~

Darkness.

He groaned in pain, clutching his right leg. The scenery was gone now. It was replaced by dark cave walls. He laid on his side of a patch of golden flowers, breathing in shaky, unsteady volumes. "I will not go into shock. I will not go into shock." He repeated to himself firmly. He breathed out slowly, then pushed himself up onto his feet.

He took in his surroundings. Around him: dark walls. Below him: a bed of golden flowers. Above him: the sunset sky above. He called for help a few times, with no answer in return. In front of him: another cave opening, and the frame of a large door. He made his way towards it, limping slowly on his right leg.

A yellow flower popped out of the ground in front of him. He flinched in surprise; it had risen to meet him. It even had a welcoming smile on its face. "Hi there!" It said cheerfully. A talking flower? He knelt down in front of it as the flower continued.

"I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!" He said cheefully. "Uh...hi there...Flowey. I'm Alex." The human introduced himself. "Deelighted to meet ya! I'm guessin' you're new here to the Underground, ain't ya?" Flowey asked with a bit of a sly grin. Alex nodded. "Yeah. I fell down this hole. Pretty sure my leg's messed up." Alex summarized briefly. He sighed.

"Well golly, sounds like you're in a real pickle" Flowey said, his smile sinking into a frown of concern. "I can help you out with your leg though!" Flowey offered. Alex, only half attention to Flowey, stood up carefully, pulling out an iPhone from his pocket. "Ugh. No service, of course. My friggin carrier sucks, man." He complained to Flowey, whose eyebrow was raised in mild frustration.

"Hey. I said I can help you with your leg, buddy." Flowey repeated himself. Alex pocketed his phone. "Sorry. You say you can help my leg?" Flowey nodded with a smile. "Yes I can. You want my help, right?" Flowey asked, grinning slyly again, almost playfully. Alex nodded. "I'd appreciate that very much." "Well alright then!"

Alex's surroundings grew darker, almost to a point of appearing black and white. Flowey smiled again, as if this were all completely normal to him. A light gray heart appeared over the left side of Alex's chest, over his shirt and coat like a virtual projection. Alex's eyebrows furrowed, and he stared down at the heart in confusion.

"What's going on, Flowey?" Flowey simply smiled at Alex. "Relax buddy. That's your SOUL right there. It represents you and all that you are. When you engage with someone the way we are right now, it'll appear. Now, to heal your leg up, I'm gonna give you a lil' somethin' very common down here in the Underground: friendship pellets! These will heal ya right up! Just run into them. Kay? Kay!"

Little cylindrical pellets appeared from behind Flowey, and he shot them in Alex's direction. Closer they came. Alex felt a cold shiver down his spine. He felt uncomfortable. The pellets came closer. Alex got shaky. Something felt wrong. Something felt off.

Alex hopped out of the way of the pellets.

Flowey's frown of concern returned. "Heya buddy heheh, ya missed them. Something wrong? Heheh..." Alex's eyes scanned the cave in rapid glances. "I'mma have to back out of this, Flowey. Something doesn't feel right." Alex said. Flowey raised an eyebrow, but chuckled again awkwardly. "Come on, buddy, don't'cha trust me?" Flowey insisted. "It's not a matter of trust, it just feels weird." Alex answered.

"That's okay, buddy. Why don't we just try again?" Flowey said slowly. He fired more pellets at Alex. He hopped out of the way again.

Flowey's expression darkened. His face turned much uglier and much more sinister. "You're playing me, aren't you? You know exactly what's going on here, don't'cha? You just wanted to see me suffer..." Pellets appeared all around Alex, surrounding him. "'Oh, I don't know where I am. I'm hurt. I don't want your bullets, Flowey. They're weird, keheheh.' Die!" Flowey screeched. The bullets closed in on Alex.

And then suddenly they disappeared. A ball of fire hit Flowey, and he disappeared under the ground with a quick screech of pain. Alex's SOUL disappeared, and his surroundings normalized. In front of him, he noticed what looked to be a goat in a purple dress/robe of sorts with long white sleeves. The goat shook its head at where Flowey had been.

"Shame on that creature, tormenting someone unable to defend himself." She scolded in a calm, almost motherly, soothing voice. The goat lady turned to Alex, studying him.

Alex looked to be a late teen, or perhaps in his early twenties. He had on a blue shirt, a green militaru style jacket with an attached hoodie, black jeans, and black running shoes. He didn't look like someone who frequented trips up the mountain. He had short black hair, lightly tanned skin, and shimmering deep brown eyes.

Though Alex could only see discomfort and uncertainty in her eyes, deep inside she was making a decision: would she help this human, or leave him to fend for himself? Her first judgment was to leave him, and understandably so, considering her last encounter with a human. However, the way those brown eyes kept piercing through her, she knew the human needed help, and it would pain her conscience far more to leave him for dead...

She forced a kind smile. "Are you alright?" He nodded slowly. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine... I'm sorry, I can't help but notice that you're a goat, and that was a talking flower earlier." She chuckled politely. "Yes." She eyed his bent right leg. "Are you hurt?" "Yeah. I messed up my right leg when I fell." She walked to him, holding out her palms to his leg. An aura emitted from her palms and entered his leg.

Good as new, Alex moved is leg around. "And now it feels fine." He said, shaking his head quickly. "Thank you." He said. She smiled. "You're welcome. What is your name, child?" She asked habitually, biting her tongue back after asking the question. "I'm Alex, ma'am. And you are?" "I am Toriel. I watch over these Ruins, and occasionally check for fallen humans...

"...against my better judgement." She added softly.

"Well. it was a good thing you showed up here when you did. Getting killed by a flower would have been embarrassing. Alex said with a small smile. Toriel chuckled lightly. "Come child, I will lead you through the Ruins."

***

As the pair came closer to Toriel's home, after she had navigated them through puzzles and the maze-like structure of the Ruins, Toriel began to ask Alex a few questions.

"How'd you come to fall down here?" "I was walking up the mountain and my foot caught on a rock or something, and I fell backwards." Alex described. "What were you doing coming up the mountain?" "I was just strolling. I needed to clear my head." "And what are you gonna do now?"

Before Alex could answer, they reached her home. Inside, Alex was hit with a sweet but unfamiliar smell, and it welcomed him graciously. "Make yourself at home. There's a room down the hall, second door on the left, that you can rest in." Toriel offered with a gesture of her hand. Alex nodded and went to the room, tossing his jacket aside and napping on the bed in the room...

4 Hours Later...

Alex woke up with a start. He'd had a bad dream. He got up and exited the room, walking down the hall to the living room. Toriel was sitting by her fireplace, reading a book filled with, apparently, random snail facts. She lifted her head and smiled pleasantly as Alex entered the living room. He returned the smile, which put her slightly more at ease.

"Did you rest well, Alex?" "Yeah. Thanks." "I have some pie ready. I took out of the oven just a little while ago. Butterscotch pie. Would you like a piece?" She offered him. "I suppose. I've never had pie before." Alex answered. "Never had pie?" Toriel closed her book, led Alex into the kitchen, and sat him down at the kitchen table, serving a slice of her Butterscotch pie. Alex took a bite and nodded approvingly.

"This is good. Really sweet, but also really good." Alex reviewed. Toriel nodded, sitting across the table from him. She watched him at silently, her expression slowly sinking. He finished his slice of pie, all the while aware of the fact that Toriel was watching him. Alex pushed the empty plate and fork away from him once he was done. Finally, Toriel mustered up the courage to ask the question she'd had on her mind.

"When are you gonna be leaving?" Toriel asked suddenly.

Alex tapped his fingers on the table. "As soon as possible. I appreciate your honesty, truly, but I can't stay here." "I know. Part of me had hoped you would, but I'm sure you have something, or someone, to get back to." Toriel presumed. Alex nodded. "Yes. Someone very special is probably worried sick about me right now." Alex said. Toriel nodded. "I understand...

"Hover, I still have to strongly urge you against leaving the Ruins. Others have fallen before you. and they all were killed...except one." "One survived?" "His name was Frisk. He came, he fell, just like the others. But...well, a lot of people...actually, everyone died during his quest back to the surface...including me." Toriel admitted.

Alex's eyes widened. "I don't know how we're all alive again, but I assume it has everything to do with you falling down here. A lot of monsters probably still harbor resent against humans; they likely well remember Frisk's actions. The ones that aren't afraid of you will likelier still want to kill you." Toriel finished.

Alex shook his head sadly, but repeated again without hesitation: "I can't stay here." Toriel nodded, and agreed to the exit out of the Ruins. Alex's guilt gnawed at him. He even considered offering to stay little longer, but he knew that he couldn't. They reached the door. Toriel gave him her cell phone. He put it in his pocket.

"Thank you again for your help. Considering everything that you told me, it musn't have been an easy decision to make." Toriel turned to Alex, blocking the door. She folded her arms. "If you're going to kill me, now's your time to do it." She said. Alex flinched in surprise. "What? No, I don't wanna kill you! I don't wanna kill anyone!" Alex exclaimed defensively.

"Frisk said the same thing, and that didn't stop him from piercing through me." Toriel said firmly, looking down at Alex's chest.

His SOUL did not appear.

Alex walked to Toriel, and held his arms out to her. She stepped into them, and the two shared a final hug goodbye. "I won't fight you. And don't apologize either." Alex said. Toriel remained silent, letting go of him after awhile. Alex walked to the door. "Good luck, Alex." She said finally. "I don't believe in luck, but I'll be careful. I'll be sure to call you and let you know when I've made it." Alex promised with a confident smile. He disappeared behind the other side of the door. It closed behind him.

"Goodbye... Alex."

Alex stepped out into another dark cave opening. A door stood on the other side of it. Between him and the door, in the center of the room, Flowey was waiting for him.

"You're an idiot. You know that? No, you think you're SO clever, getting her on your side. I see your plan. You want everybody on your side, so they can cheer for you like you're 'something special'. You're just gonna make me suffer more through this whole thing, aren't 'cha? I see right through ya, Alex. You're just gonna make everyone suffer more. I hope you're ready to have that on your conscience."

And, just like that, Flowey was gone again. Alex's eyebrows furrowed, but he continued to the door. He opened it, ad stepped out into the blinding white light on the other side...

 

 


	2. Two

Alex stepped away from the door, and his shoes crunched on freshly packed snow. On the other side of the door was a snowy forest and a just barely visible trail leading away from it. Alex could see lightly pressed flat footprints leading away from the door. The snow was falling lightly. Although their was no sun, natural light beamed down everywhere. It wasn't as cold as it looked, so Alex simply put his hoodie on and started down the trail, hands in his coat pockets...

~~~

Fight. Act. Item. Mercy.

These were the options that appeared in front of Alex as his surroundings darkened, and his SOUL appeared on his chest. Just a little bit down the path, a creature was blocking the way forward. It looked like a snowflake with the face of a bird. A box with text appeared above its head that read:

*Snowdrake is preparing an ice pun...

Alex looked through his options. Item: had only Butterscotch pie in it. He didn't want to choose Fight. Act: he was give the options 'Heckle' and 'Joke'. Alex read Snowdrake's box again. To Alex, it felt as if these interactions that he was taking part of with Flowey and now Snowdrake functioned like that of a video game. Alex chose Joke.

"Alright buddy, let's snow." Alex said, shaking his arms as if about to fight. Snowdrake chuckled, but proceeded to fire snowflakes composed of frozen solid ice at Alex. He didn't hesitate to jump out of the way. "There's snow way you can defeat me." Snowdrake said in a low voice. Alex chuckled. "Wow, that's snow bad." Alex laughed.

His four options appeared before him again. Alex took a look at Mercy this time: he could either choose 'Flee' or 'Spare'. Spare was in yellow text. None of Alex's other options were yellow before. Alex chose it. His surroundings normalized, his SOUL disappeared, and Snowdrake went on his way. "He laughed. He actually laughed. Take that, Dad!"

Alex shrugged. "I guess that's over then."

Alex took a step forward to continue, and felt something jingle in his coat pocket. He reached into it, and pulled out four gold coins. Alex hummed in confusion. He hadn't had those before. He pocketed the coins again, shrugged, and kept walking...

~~~

Alex reached a point in the trail where their was nothing but a big, long line of trees on either side.Alex continued on, his hands still in his pockets. He tried to use his iPhone again, but still no service. That was why Toriel had given him her phone. "Guess there's no coverage for the center of the Earth." Alex muttered to himself.

*shuffle shuffle*

Alex spun around quickly. He'd heard a noise behind him, but there was nothing there, other than the snow and trees that he had already passed by. Alex shrugged and continued on, stepping over a fallen branch in the trail. Alex stretched out his shoulders, and yawned a bit.

CRACK!

Alex turned again. He blinked a few times; a shadow had flickered in his eye. Alex looked down at the branch he'd stepped over. It was broken in the center. Alex swallowed uneasily. "Whose there? Is someone there?" Alex called out. His voice echoed across the frozen forest, but no answer came. Alex turned again, and walked into a clearing.

To his right: a line of evergreen trees. To his left: a shack made of wood and a child-sized lamp. Up ahead: someone was coming down the trail, towards him. 

Alex panicked, and ran to the shack before he could be seen by the approaching figure. Alex jumped over the front counter of the shack, hiding behind the other side.

"Sans! Sans, where are you? Stop hiding, Sans! You need to recalibrate your puzzles! Ugh, of course. He's probably out on another 'break'. I swear. he gets lazier and lazier every single day."

Alex adjusted how he was kneeling, and slowly looked over the counter. Out on the trail stood a tall skeleton wearing shorts, boots, and some kind of shell armor over its arms and chest, along with a long red scarf around its neck. It placed its fists on his hips, still looking left and right down the trail. Alex watched him carefully, and waited until it was gone. Once the skeleton had left, Alex came back out, and looked down where it had walked.

"Hey."

Alex turned around. He found a smaller skeleton standing behind him. It's head went up to about Alex's collar bones. It had on a blue hoodie, a white shirt, black shorts, and white bathroom slippers. Alex nodded.

"Sup?" Alex held out his hand, but the skeleton did not hold out its hand to him. "I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton." He introduced himself. Alex awkwardly put his hand back in his coat pocket. "I'm Alex. Nice to meet ya." "Alex, huh? Nice name." "Yours too, I guess. Thanks." Alex said.

"So, Alex, what brings ya to Snowdin Forest?" Sans asked. "I'm lookin to get home. The surface." Alex answered. "Ah. You're lookin to get through the barrier too, huh?" "Barrier?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup. The barrier's the way back to the surface for you, buddy. It's over at Asgore's castle. He's the king of all us monsters here in the Underground. You wanna get to the surface? You're gonna have to go through him." Sans explained. "Ah." Alex nodded, contemplating this. "Is it far from here?" Sans nodded. "It sure ain't close." "Right. And Asgore? What about him?" Alex asked.

"Well, in case you haven't been told before, Asgore's got this plan to get us all up on the surface again. See, a long time ago, the humans sealed us down here after this big war, and the barrier they created is what's stopping us from getting up there again. It takes 7 human SOULs to open it, and so far, he's got 6. He almost had 7, but I think you already know what happened with the last human that fell down here." Alex nodded. "Yeah..."

"Oh! There was another skeleton here a second ago, looking for you." Alex exclaimed, remembering suddenly. "Right. That was my younger brother Papyrus. He's a human hunting fanatic by the way. He's harmless though, even if he tries not to be..." Sans said with a chuckle.

"... I, however, am not as nice as he is." Sans added. His left eye suddenly began to glow blue. Alex backed away slowly. "Woah man, I don't want any trouble, okay?" "Uhuh. You watch yourself around my brother, got it? I will personally hand to you the worst time of your life if you harm him." Sans threatened. "I won't." Alex said firmly.

Sans calmed, and his eye disappeared. "Good. I'm choosing to trust you. Don't give me reason to regret it." "Of course." Alex said, holding his hand out. "We've already gone through introductions, kid." Sans said, eyeing his hand. "I know. This is a trust handshake. An assurance that I mean what I say." Sans shrugged and shook his hand. "It's also a 'thank you' for the helpful heads up." Alex added.

Sans shrugged. "No problem. I'll be up ahead with my brother. See you then." Sans said, going down the trail, back the way Alex had come. Alex looked to where Papyrus had gone, then called back to Sans. "Yo, that's the wrong way." "I know a shortcut." Sans called back. Alex turned and started down the trail. He sneaked a glance behind him, but Sans was already gone...

~~~

This was it. After an encounter with a glowing golden star, which, according to his Stats, had 'filled him with Determination', Alex was coming up the path and approaching Sans and Papyrus. He saw them from down the path, talking, and he saw no way around them. He took a deep breath and approached them. They turned towards Alex.

"Sans! Oh. My. God. Is that...is that a human?" Papyrus asked excitedly. Sans shrugged. "I think the cold's gettin to ya, bro." "No! There's one right there! See? Right in front of that rock!" Papyrus pointed at Alex, who was calmly waiting. Sans nodded. "Hey, look at that. You're right. Nice job spottin him bro. He would've snuck right under my nose." Sans complimented. "We don't have noses, Sans." Papyrus pointed out. "Exactly." Sans said with a wink. 

Papyrus stepped forward, standing firmly. "Human! You shall not pass this area! I, the Great Papyrus, will stop you! I will then proceed to capture you! I will take you to the capitol! Then, I will get all of the things that I utterly deserve, the most prominent of which is membership into the Royal Guard, and the respect of Undyne! But I digress. Continue, human, if you dare." Papyrus ran off, cackling confidently.

Alex shrugged awkwardly, wondering where the hell Papyrus was going. He walked to Sans, who was waiting for him. "Okay then?" Alex said. "He's excited, somehow. Nice job playing the part for him." Sans said, giving him a thumbs up. "I did absolutely nothing." Alex pointed out. "Exactly! It was perfect. That's why I do it." Sans chuckled. Alex rolled his eyes, slightly amused. He continued after Papyrus. He looked back at Sans; he still had one more thing to say to him:

"I can't humor him forever." 

Alex walked into a clearing, where Papyrus was waiting for him. Papyrus stood next to a clearing in the snow, with giant snow piles and blue X's on the floor. He had been idly standing there, humming to himself and tapping his foot as he waited. Once Alex came into his view, his posture straightened.

"Ah! Human! At last, you arrive! Took you long enough." Papyrus said as Alex approached the clearing of X's. "Yeah. My name's Alex by the way. You can call me Alex." "Very well." Papyrus nodded. "Whatcha got for me here?" Alex asked.

"Nyeheheh! Funny you should ask, hu- I mean Alex. This is a dastardly puzzle of my very own design. Its purpose? Why, to stump you of course! And trap you! Nyeheheh!" Papyrus cackled. "But, unfortunately, there is a slight problem. You see, heh, you were taking a long time, so I decided to improve this puzzle by making it look more like my face. But, now, the solution is different!" Papyrus explained.

Alex hummed in thought, walking around the puzzle. "Hey, Papyrus, can you give me a boost?" Alex asked. "You mean like a boost of confidence? Would 'I'm rooting for you, kid' suffice? My brother used to say that to me." "No, I mean lift me onto your shoulder so I can get a better view of the puzzle." Alex elaborated. "Oh! Right!" 

Papyrus walked to Alex and carefully lifted him onto his shoulders. He stumbled a bit as Alex's full weight fell on him, but he stayed upright. "Woah! You're stronger than you look." Alex said once he had regained his own balance. "Of course I am! Just look at my biceps. I'm not all skin and bones you know. Nyeheheh!!" Alex chuckled, then studied the puzzle for a bit. "Hmm...no...maybe...nah...let's try that. Okay, I think I got it!"

Alex rolled off of Papyrus' shoulders in a backflip, behind him, landing on his feet. Alex stood and clapped eagerly. "Alright." Alex went through the puzzle, skipping around a space but never jumping over. As he stepped on the X's, they changed to red O's. Once they were all red O's, Papyrus pressed a switch, and the puzzle was solved. Papyrus clapped a few times.

"Excellent! You solved it so quickly! And you didn't even require my assistance. You must have a keen mind when it comes to puzzle something." Papyrus observed. Alex nodded. "Yeah, growing up, I loved playing puzzle games and solving mazes." "Hey, me too! That's cool, and you're pretty cool too, though not quite as cool as myself.

"However! The next puzzle won't be as easy this one. Let's hope you are prepared for the danger up ahead as you take on this next puzzle. I wonder if you'll be able to solve it. Nyeheheh!!!" Papyrus quickly cackled away. It was then that Alex noticed Sans waiting for him on the other side of the puzzle. Alex walked to him.

"Not bad. My brother seems to connect with you more than the other humans. The last one wasn't much of a talker." Sans said. "Yeah. He's cool, I suppose. A little odd." "Aren't most cool people? Besides, he's just enthusiastic, what with his dream and all. Me, I'm just the complacent with the way things are." Sans rambled. "Why complacent?" Alex asked. Sans simply shrugged. "Better get going. There's more in store up ahead." Sans said. 

Alex nodded and continued down the path...


	3. Three

_"Dear human/Alex, I have prepared for you this delicious bowl of spaghetti. Yes, I, the Great Papyrus, have made this artisan delicacy with my own hands just for you. Little do you know, this culinary masterpiece is, in fact, a trap meant to entice you, seducing you with its fine scent of perfection. You'll be so busy enjoying it that you won't even realize you aren't progressing. Nyeheheh! Enjoy this spaghetti that totally isn't a trap. Nyehfully yours, Papyrus."_

Alex put down the handwritten note from Papyrus, and glanced down at the plate of spaghetti sitting on a small wooden table next to a microwave. The microwave wasn't plugged in, and all of its settings read: 'Spaghetti'. The spaghetti itself was now frozen after being left on the plate, outside in the cold, for such a long time. Gagging at the idea of eating frozen food, and seeing no way to warm it up, Alex chose to continue.

Right next to the table, there was a golden star floating above the ground. Alex went and touched it. A black box of text appeared in front of him. It read: "The nastiness of the frozen spaghetti fills you with Determination." Alex stood up, ready to continue.

~~~

Covered in snow and some dirt, and smelling like a wet dog, Alex continued down the path. He reached a clearing, and there he found both Sans and Papyrus waiting on the other side of a large, square, smooth surface carved out in the snow. The two brothers seemed to be engaged in a deep conversation, but they quickly turned when they saw Alex.

"Ahah! The human arrives again! Sans and I were just discussing something odd. You probably don't know this, and we don't blame you, but you took the path wrong. You were supposed to reach this puzzle first, then my spaghetti, then my face in the snow, then the bridge of terror. Or was it the bridge, face, then spaghetti? Either way, you messed up, but we've forgiven you." Papyrus nodded.

Papyrus turned to Sans. "You don't remember moving the puzzles around, do you?" He asked. "Because I don't." Papyrus added to the end of his question. Sans simply shrugged.

"Anyways! Alex, it is time for your next puzzle! THIS is the electricity maze! You did say you liked mazes, didn't you? And yet, you will find that this maze has one shocking difference! You must navigate through this area, and if you take a false step, the maze will administer a hearty ZAP!" Papyrus explained.

Alex eyed the area around the square clearing, and began to make his way around the maze area. "Woah woah woah! What're you doing??" Papyrus yelled. "This isn't the solution?" Alex asked with false innocence. "Of course not! That would be ridiculous!" Papyrus exclaimed. "Just play along." Sans said with a sigh. Alex groaned a bit and went back to the beginning of the maze.

Alex took a step forward onto the maze, cringing in expectation of getting ZAPPED. Instead of Alex getting electrocuted, Papyrus did. He jolted and flinched, stepping back. He stamped his foot in frustration. "Sans, you broke the puzzle!" He yelled. Sans noticed a small, clear, spherical orb by Papyrus' right foot. "Dude, he's not holding the orb." Sans pointed out.

"Oh, my mistake." Papyrus said, picking the orb up. He navigated safely through the maze, leaving a trail of the dirt and snow he'd collected underneath his boots. He tossed the orb over to Alex. "Here ya go. Try now." Papyrus ran back through the other side. Alex, dumbfounded at the trail Papyrus had left, walked through it safely.

"Un! Believable! You cunning cockroach! You solved it so easily! Almost too easily. But! More challenges lie ahead! Nyeheheheh!! Heh." Papyrus was quickly gone again, leaving Alex and Sans alone again. "Interesting." Alex commented. Sans nodded.

"Hey, do you know what my bro was talking about when he said you did things off the order?" Sans asked. Alex shook his head. "Not a clue." "Well, long story short, when you came down and everything reset itself and we all came back, certain places got switched around. Everything still joins together, but it's all out of order." Sans summarized. Alex's eyebrows furrowed, and he continued on without another word.

Alex entered another straight path with trees on both side. He passed by a small wooden doghouse. "Hold it!" A gruff voice shouted at him. Alex's SOUL immediately appeared on his chest, and his surroundings darkened. Alex turned and saw a dog with two blue swords and a white tank top. "I see you moving." He said, pointing his sword at Alex.

Alex quickly chose Fight once his options appeared in front of him. He charged forward, fists balled. The dog crouched in a ready stance. Alex threw a wild punch, and the dog sidestepped him. Alex turned and threw a kick, and the dog blocked it by lifting his knee. He lifted his swords and swung one at Alex's head. Alex ducked under it, and rolled out of the way as the dog swung his other sword downwards.

Alex's options appeared again, and he chose Fight. He was determined to win. Alex charged again. He feinted a punch, and the dog sidestepped again. Alex threw a hard right hook across the dog's face. He stumbled back. A red bar labeled HP appeared over its head, and the bar depleted with the damage it took. The dog growled and attacked.

Alex jumped back to avoid the dog's wild sword swing. "Quit moving you little bugger!" It growled, thrusting his left sword forward. Alex spun around the sword and elbowed the dog in the side of the head. It grunted in pain, and the HP bar went down again. It swung at his head again a third time, which Alex wasn't prepared for.

Alex froze up as the dog swung right at his neck. Alex had turned just in time to see the blade approach his neck...

...then pass right through.

"Where'd you go? You were just moving a second ago!" The dog exclaimed. It stayed in a crouching position after having followed through with its swing at Alex's neck. Alex's options appeared before him again, but Alex didn't dare move to touch them. He slowly petted the dog's nose instead, and it panicked. "What?! Something pet me?! Nothing moved!"

Alex's options appeared again as the dog panicked. His Mercy option was blinking. Alex chose it, and chose to Spare the dog. Back into its house the dog went, shuddering. "Something pet me...that wasn't moving... I need a dog treat..." Alex's SOUL disappeared, his surroundings normalized, and he hurried away from the doghouse as quickly as he could...

~~~

Alex stopped walking the trail. It led him to a long bridge going over a deep chasm. The fall looked about 1,000 stories higher than what Alex wanted to fall, and he has a fear of heights. Taking a deep breath and grabbing both of the support ropes firmly, Alex slowly made his way to the other end of the bridge. He was almost there when he saw Sans and Papyrus waiting on the other end of the bridge. He stopped.

"Alex! This is your final test! This is the Gauntlet of Terror!" Papyrus exclaimed. He pressed a button, and weapons hanging from ropes appeared: a cannon, a spear, a puppy, et cetera. Alex eyed them all, then looked down at the chasm again. He swallowed hard, muttered a curse under his breath, and gripped the ropes tighter. Papyrus noticed this, but continued.

"W-when I activate it, blades will swing! Cannons will fire! Each part will swing violently up and down! Only the slightest chance of victory will remain, and only those with agility and speed as great as mine will be able to best it! Are you ready, Alex? Because I! Am! About! To do it!" Papyrus shouted, lifting up an activation button. Alex winced, bracing himself and gripping the ropes.

Papyrus hesitated for a few moments, his thumb resting on the button. It trembled as he contemplated pressing it. "What's the holdup, bro?" Sans asked, looking up at his younger brother. "Hol-holdup? There's no holdup! I'm...about to press it!" Still nothing. Alex and Papyrus made eye contact. Papyrus could see the trembling of silent fear of Alex's eyes. "It's, uh, still not lookin too activated." Sans pointed out.

Papyrus exhaled sharply but quietly. "It's, uh, well...it's just that...this method seems a little too direct. Yeah! That's it! Alex has proven himself to be a master of puzzle solving. This isn't the way to end things! There's no class, no class at all! Away it goes." Papyrus said with a wave of his hand, and all the weapons disappeared. Alex and Papyrus both exhaled a sigh of relief. Sans eyed Papyrus.

"What? What're you looking at, brother? This was another decisive victory with the Great Papyrus! After all, my puzzles are fair, and my traps are expertly cooked! I know exactly what I'm doing!" Papyrus defended, cackling away again to hide his uncertainty. "Right." Sans said under his breath. Alex stepped off the other side of the bridge, walking to Sans.

"What was that all about?" Alex asked him. Sans shrugged. "Dunno. I dunno what he's gonna do now. The town's up ahead." Sans said. "No more puzzles or anything?" Alex asked Sans. Sans simply shook his head. "Papyrus is the only thing stopping you now, since I'm not feelin like it right now." Sans said. "I'll talk to him. Maybe he'll understand." Alex said. "And what if he doesn't?" Sans asked. Alex shrugged and kept walking; he didn't answer.

~~~

Alex passed by a sign that read: "Welcome To Snowdin" and entered the town itself. It was made up of one long street with two turns. A number of small buildings lined the left side of the street. Alex walked through passing by a few houses, a restaurant called Grillby's, and a few idle monsters on the street. They gave Alex weird looks and fearful glances as he passed.

Alex stopped in front of a building with a sign that read: "LIBRARBY". Alex entered the library. inside was one monster with a large eye reading at a table, and the librarian behind the counter. She appeared to Alex to be some kind of female alien humanoid with blue skin and long pink hair. She turned around, saw Alex, and shrank back with a gasp.

Alex waved. "Hi there." Alex greeted, leaning his elbow on the counter. The librarian nodded timidly. "H-hello. What c-can I...do for you?" She managed to ask. "I was wondering if you had any history books that I could check out." Alex asked, flashing a polite smile that made the librarian's shoulders relax. She nodded. "Yes. We should have one back here."

She turned around to one of the shelves behind the counter. "Nobody usually takes these, so we keep them back here now." She explained to Alex. Alex walked around and behind the counter. "Ah. I see." The librarian took one of the books in her hands, blowing dust off of it.

"What's your name?" Alex asked curiously, leaning towards her. "Ariel." She answered. "I'm Alex. Nice to meet ya, Ariel." Alex said, holding his hand out to her. She shook it, then handed him the history book with a much more genuine smile. "Thank you very much." Alex said with his own smile. Now Ariel felt fully at ease. "You're welcome. Don't forget to bring it back, kay?" "You got it." Alex said, going back around the counter and nodding to the eye monster before walking to the door.

He stopped, and turned back to Ariel.

"One more thing." He said. Ariel's eyebrows perked. "Yes?" "I'm looking for Papyrus the skeleton. Do you know where I can find him?" Ariel nodded in response. "He passed by some time ago. He said he was gonna go think, which means he's by the river. Just keep going down the path." Ariel gladly directed, pointing in the direction Alex had been walking all along. "Thanks again." Alex said, exiting the library.

As Alex walked down the path towards the river, he kept in mind what Sans had told him about Asgore and fighting Papyrus and everything else. It was a lot of information to take in, and Alex realized that he needed to decide quickly how far he would be willing to go in order to get back home...

Alex stopped. He'd reached the river. It rushed calmly to his left, chunks of ice floating downstream. Just down the path, there was Papyrus standing in the center of the path. His back was to Alex. Papyrus' head was down, and his fists were on his hips; he was deep in thought.

Alex took a deep breath, and called out his name...

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is not mine, but a work of my boyfriend, who asked me to post on here. Feedback is truly appreciated!


End file.
